Category: Fly Fishing

Day 1

Weather: Warm 70, slight breeze

Time: 5:00-7:00pm

Fish Caught: 3

Fish Species: Arctic Grayling

Successful Flies: Chironomid (white bead, black and red body)

Notes: Fish rising everywhere, 4 feet down, Vinny was the paddler

Day 2

Morning

Weather: About 55, no wind

Time: 7:00-8:00am

Fish Caught: 9

Fish Species: Arctic Grayling

Successful Flies: Chironomid (white bead, black and red body), Pine Squirrel Leech

Notes: Some fish rising, 8-10 feet down, caught 2 fish at the same time!

Evening

Weather: Warm 70, slight breeze

Time: 5:00-6:30pm

Fish Caught: 7

Fish Species: Arctic Grayling, Cutthroat (1)

Successful Flies: Chironomid (white bead, black and red body), Pine Squirrel Leech

Notes: Not many fish rising, 14 feet down

Day 3

Weather: Around 60, no wind

Time: 7:00-8:15am

Fish Caught: 5

Fish Species: Arctic Grayling

Successful Flies: Chironomid (white bead, black and red body), Pine Squirrel Leech

Notes: Not many fish rising, 12 feet down

Is it considered getting skunked when you don’t catch any fish? Or is it considered getting skunked when you don’t have any takes? What if you have a couple fish on, but never land any? I’d venture to guess that most would say that if you don’t net a single fish, no matter how many bites you have or how many fish you have on the line, you got skunked. The real question though is did you have a good time? Did you have fun being on the water and getting away from everyday life?
Today was one of those days where I didn’t net a single fish. I did, however, have plenty of action. Bites, takes, fish on the line, blah, blah, blah. It was just one of those days where I was just a little off. A little slow on my hook sets and a little fast in trying to bring fish to net.
Sometimes I leave the water and I am disappointed that I didn’t catch any. But today, when I was finished I didn’t really feel any disappointment. I felt satisfied. I enjoyed getting out there on the river and breathing that fresh mountain air. So if you ask me if I got skunked today, I’d say yeah I did. But I had a great time in the process!! Stay Fly.

Two weeks ago my buddy Jason and I went north into Wyoming for quick fly fishing trip. This was my first trip to Wyoming and, although it was a short trip, Wyoming gave quite a good impression. Fast highways, low population, friendly people and incredible fishing! Our destination was the Grey Reef section of the North Platte, with a full day guided float. We arrived Thursday evening in Casper to meet up with Ric, a friend and colleague of Jason. And let me tell you how cool of a guy Ric is.  We met him in Casper and then followed him up to the dam where his sweet motor home was all set up for Jason and I to stay in that night. He had it fully loaded with food, pop, beer and liquor. If that’s not hospitality, I don’t know what is!

After getting settled in we fished right below the dam for about an hour.  Jason was able to land one and none for me, but that’s fine because this trip was all about Friday’s float. For dinner Ric took us down to Sunset Bar and Grill and boy do they have some delicious bar food! Nothing beats a juicy cheeseburger, fries and a cold brew. Once finished with dinner we went back to the motor home, started a campfire and had a couple of drinks. At this point Ric went back to Casper for the night to return in the morning for breakfast and fly fishing.

After a quick night’s sleep Ric and his brother Todd arrived early at the motor home to cook us up an amazing bacon, egg and fried potato breakfast! I can’t express enough what great hosts we had during our short stay. We finished up our grub, chugged some coffee, packed up some beers and snacks, then met up with the guides. Time to fish!

My second first on this trip was fly fishing on a drift boat down a river. Ric hooked us up with two guides from Wyoming Anglers based in Casper. Jason and I were paired with Oliver and Ric and Todd were on Kody’s boat. These guys were friendly, knowledgeable, and just over all cool dudes! Because it was both our first time fly fishing from a drift boat, when we got on the water Oliver gave us some quick instruction on line management, where we would be casting from the boat, how to stand, etc. Right after that, probably within the first 10 minutes, Jason and I were on fish with our first hookup being a double! It didn’t slow down much after that. We landed close to 50 rainbows and probably missed/lost almost as many. I’d definitely recommend Oliver as a guide to anyone who wants to float the North Platte. He knew that river like that back of his hand.

Visiting a cool place with some cool people and fly fishing all day down an amazing river made for a great 24 hours! I will definitely be back there. Anyway that’s enough text. Check out some pictures from the trip below. Stay Fly.

When fly fishing here in Colorado on any waters that are less than two hours away from Denver you will often times find it to be a little crowded, especially on the weekends. That is why, when possible, I like to go during the weekdays. You get a better chance of it just being you, the outdoors, and hopefully the fish.

Earlier this week I took a day off work in hopes of enjoying a little solitude and catching some trout on the fly. I arrived at the river fairly early and just as I hoped there was no one around. It was pretty cold so I took my sweet time getting my gear on and rod set up. After about a half hour of fishing (mostly knocking ice off my guides and trying to keep my hands warm) I noticed some guy coming down the mountain towards the river about 300 yards downstream. I continued to watch as he crossed the river and headed upstream towards me but on the opposite side. “I wonder where this guy is going,” I thought to myself. Soon enough I found out. He stopped about 15 yard upstream from me and proceeded to fish just outside the run that I was fishing. Was this some sort of practical joke? Am I being filmed? I looked upstream about 500 yards, not a soul. I looked downstream 500 yards, not a soul. I didn’t get it. There was so much river and so many open spots and this gentleman decides he is going to come as close to me as possible without actually fishing in my spot. I didn’t know what to do. Should I say something or just keep fishing and try to ignore this guy. I kept quiet and just tried focus on fishing but he was hard to not watch. Besides being close to me he was also very distracting. He had two rods with him. The one he was fishing was set up for nymphing and I assumed the other was set up for dries in case it warmed up. Anyway, he leaned his extra rod against the bush while he fished and then kept looking back at it making sure it was still there. Dude, it’s just me and you here. No one else. Your rod is safe!

After about 30 minutes he went upstream about 50 yards. No luck there so he then went downstream about 300 yards. At that point I could finally relax and enjoy myself and what do you know, I was able to catch a nice rainbow! It was like his presence was affecting my fly fishing mojo. I didn’t have any more luck after that, but I didn’t stay much longer because the wind was quite annoying. Check out a couple shots from the day. Stay Fly.

This guy is third from the top on the Trout Names shirt.

Wore the Red Colorado Trucker Hat.

Mountain bike from Savers: $25. Two bicycle tubes from Walmart: $10. Not catching a thing on a winter day: priceless. Sunday my buddy Esteban and I took a ride up Waterton Canyon to try our luck on the this closer-to-town stretch of the South Platte. We rode five miles up and for someone who doesn’t ride bikes and hasn’t owned a bike in years, it was pretty tough. I thought it would be easier and faster than walking the five miles. Faster, maybe. Easier, definitely not. Nonetheless it was probably good to get the old heart pumping in the fresh mountainous air.

Once we got up there and found a nice looking deep pool we got rigged up and started fishing. And fishing is all that occurred. No catching, just fishing. Winter fly fishing is something I need some work at. I’ve been out three times since December and three big skunks.

One of the positives of the day was being able to use my Blue Halo Gear rod that I recently finished. It was a really warm winter day and I was hoping for a midge hatch to be able cast some dries, because I think this rod would be perfect for that. But it was kind of windy and I only saw a few bugs, thus I was relegated to a nymphing setup. The wind made it tricky, but the rod was able to cast my indicator, split shot, and two nymphs.

All in all I can say it was nice to get out after being locked up by the snow and cold, but man catching a fish would definitely be more satisfying. Spring cannot come fast enough. It’ll be nice to fish in the warm sun with no jacket and just a t-shirt. Check out the pictures from my bike ride/casting session and Stay Fly!

Dang! You got shocks, pegs… lucky! You ever take it off any sweet jumps?

You see a mirror on a trail and you have no choice but to take a picture.

I like my new rod. I can’t wait to cast some Elk Hair Caddis flies with it.

You’ve heard the phrase “stop and smell the roses” I’m sure. I’ve got a new phrase for you, “stop and have a beer.” Saturday I was able to spend a good part of the day at one my favorite places to fish, Cheesman Canyon. When fishing in the canyon you’ve got to hike in a ways before you can get your line wet. We had planned on hiking for an hour and a half, but 45 minutes in we came upon a calm pool with several rising trout and had no choice but to stop. I got my rod set up, had a breakfast beer, and after few casts I had my first fish on. The perfect start to a great day on the river. Sometimes it pays to stop and have a beer. Stay Fly.

Stopped to have a breakfast beer…

…then caught a nice brown.

Got to try out my early birthday present.

This dude needs to put on a little weight.

I recently went to a public stream that had four sections of water called “beats.” And the parking space you parked in determined which beat you were able to fish. This was the first time I have been to water with a setup like this. I guess the idea of this is to give the fisherman some nice breathing room and not let the stream deal with too much pressure. It was pretty nice to know that I wouldn’t run into another fly fisher as I worked my way upstream. The only problem I ran into had nothing to do with the beat system. It was that I had no idea that the creek would be so brushy making it difficult to maneuver and cast with my normal rig. Here are some shots from the outing. Stay Fly.

I was the only one here and chose Beat 2.

Fall is definitely here.

Hooked up with a few but could only wrangle in this guy. Always remember to catch then release, so you can catch again!